Piraeus

Piraeus' Origins

• 

  Originally a rocky island, losely connected to the mainland; the muddy flats that connect the rock to the shore of Attica gradually become more accessible
• The part known as Munichia was fortified in the late sixth century BCE by the tyrant (sole ruler) Hippias, who needed a garrison to back up his position

Classical Age

• The new peninsula offered three excellent ports: Kantharos, Zea, and Munichia; in the course of the fifth century, they replaced Phaleron, which had been the main port of Athens in the sixth century. The city is designed on a Hippodamian plan.

• 

  In 483, Themistocles initiated the ship building project that would make Athens great; he was also responsible for chosing Piraeus as main naval base. It was connected to Athens with Long Walls.
• During the Decelean War (413-404), the Spartan admiral Lysander blocked the Athenian ports and starved the city into surrender. The Long Walls were destroyed.^note[Xenophon, Hellenica 2.2.20.]
• In the next year, there was fighting between the pro-Spartan regime and the democrats.^note[Aristotle, Aristotle on the Thirty.]
• In 393, Conon restored Piraeus; as trade center, it had remained important anyhow.
• Most archaeological finds on display in the museum, are from the fourth century.

Hellenististic Age

• 

  In the Hellenistic age, Munichia was often garrisoned by the Macedonians to keep Athens in check.
• Production center of Neo-Archaic and Neo-Classical sculpture
• Piraeus, the second settlement in Attica after Athens, was sacked by the Roman general Sulla in 88 BCE^note[Appian, Mithridatic Wars 30-41.] but remained important in the Roman period.

There are 20 items in Piraeus - piraeus:

Piraeus, Relief of Cybele, Hecate, and Hermes	Piraeus, Statue of a woman or Demeter	Piraeus, Head of a bearded god	Piraeus, Theater, Head of Dionysus (classicizing)
Piraeus, Relief of Cybele (small figures of Hermes and Hecate)	Piraeus, Funerary stela with ball players	Piraeus, Votive stela of a reclining Dionysus	Piraeus, Grant of privileges to metics
Piraeus, Farewell stela	Piraeus, Portrait of an unidentified Hellenistic ruler	Piraeus, Ram of a warship	Piraeus, Tragic mask

Roman Age

• The port was used in 324 CE by Constantine the Great in the civil ware against Licinius.^note[Zosimus, New History 2.22.2.]
• It was also sacked by Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths, in 395 CE.

Piraeus, Claudius	Piraeus, Trajan	Piraeus, Hadrian	Piraeus, Balbinus
Piraeus, Julian the Apostate